Turin

And we've reached Day 20, June 26. Early in the morning, we boarded a train to Milan, our way point to Turin. We packed a lunch of cheese, bread, cherry tomatoes, and basil, found a train car that didn't have a broken restroom stinking up the place, and settled down.

The ride was relatively uneventful, and we had a little layover in Milan before the second half to Turin. Not quite enough time to take a peek outside, what with our packs and all, but I'm ok with that.



When we arrived in Turin, we made our way to our hostel, which was on the Piazza San Carlo.



We had more of a proper room and setup than at the grandmother's place in Venice, which was refreshing. We were both feeling a little antsy after being in the train for a while, so after dropping off our packs we headed out for a little run/walk to see what we could see, knowing that we'd most likely be back later with cameras.

We looped up to the Piazza Castello, down Via Po through the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, across the River Po, and up into a nice little park area. We followed a road up the hill to a church (Monte dei Cappuccini and Chiesa di Santa Maria al Monte, respectively, it turns out), where there happened to be a public fountain with excellent water pressure. It was a hot day, so it was very appreciated. Nice views from the hill too.

From there, we went back into the city toward the giant Mole Antonelliana, which completely dominates the skyline. We talked to a tourist booth there about a fabled Chocopass (Turin being the birthplace of the chocolate bar (and Tic Tacs!)), were sent to another information site in the Piazza Castello, and found out that unfortunately it wasn't worth it for a Sunday. We did get a couple nice maps there in a bag made out of leftover pennant-like material from the 2006 Olympics.

Armed with this information, we showered and followed a walk that took us back toward the train station and past numerous notable chocolate and coffee bars.

We picked up some nice pieces and enjoyed them in the grassy Piazza Carlo Felice.



We checked out the Palazzo Reale and the Armeria Reale from the outside, being content with our museuming so far, then followed another walk back from the Piazza Castello, winding around to the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento Italiano.



The Palazzo Reale.



Hehe.



The front facade of the Palazzo Madama. Turin was the head of the House of Savoy, which ruled parts of Italy and France for a long time, then all of united Italy from its founding in 1861 through WWII.



The back of the Palazzo Madama. Can you tell that different parts of the building were built at different periods in history?



Being dinnertime, we sat at a place off of a nearby square, Piazza Carlo Alberto, outside of the Palazzo Carignano, where they were setting up a dance floor and sound system. The food was great, and the dance floor was soon populated by excellent tango dancers. We watched them for a while afterward.





This guy is a hero.

We had a nice stroll that evening around the Piazza Vittorio Veneto, which was positively hopping. We got our last Italian gelato and enjoyed the scenery.



The tall tower in the background is the Mole Antonelliana.



That's looking up to the Monte dei Cappuccini and the glowing Chiesa di Santa Maria al Monte.



The next day, we were up at a good hour and had breakfast at a nearby cafe with a nutella croissant and a bicerin, which is really just the most decadent drink possible.



Traditional to Turin, a bicerin is made of carefully layered (not mixed) espresso, hot chocolate, and whipped milk. So. Good.

Properly pepped, we followed another nice walk from the Piazza Vittorio Veneto down along the Po River. It took us through the Parco del Valentino, which contains a little historical representation of a medieval town as well as university and exhibition buildings.











We walked all the way south to Lingotto Fiere, the former Fiat factory that now houses all sorts of shops. There was a place called Eataly too, with all sorts of yummy looking food.

But no time! We scampered back north to our hostel to pick up our bags and check out. We were due to meet Amanda's parents at the Trattoria Anaconda at 1pm, and the hike over there took a little longer than expected and took us through some seedy areas. We did pass some Roman excavations, which were cool.

We were successful in finding her parents. Unfortunately, the restaurant no longer exists.



We threw our stuff in the car, sat down for the first time in a while, and were on the road, picking up some food off of the expressway. With that, we continued the drive toward France.